Our life in the foothills of Calaveras County, California. The pond is at the center of everything. In case we should forget, the bullfrogs yell it out all summer long. A noisy place, but home.

Pond!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Break?

It's only two days into my summer break and I've already attended one Saturday workshop for one day and spent another cleaning out my classroom. Alright, I'll admit it -- I'm feeling sorry for myself. I need some time away from school, but that can't happen quite yet. I have weaving projects waiting in the wings, a horse that needs riding, several gardens in need of tender loving care, and kitchen cupboards waiting to be reorganized. But not quite yet.

We did have two wonderful houseguests for several days: Andrew and Maria. They are both artists and their visit brought two days of wonderful conversations. Andrew went on such interesting tangents on topics that I know next to nothing about that I took to listing them on a pad of paper so I could Google them later:
1. Movie: The Train (with Burt Lancaster)
2. Richard Scully (a contemporary painter)
3. David Hockney (artist)
4. Fibernocci Numbers (probably spelled wrong)
5. Giclee ( a printing technique from a photograph)

By the time they left yesterday afternoon, I felt as though my brain had grown several sizes larger. Seriously.

Maria also helped me in the garden. With her help, we harvested all of the potatoes and had a rollicking good time digging them out of the dirt together.

I also worked Cornelius in the arena on a lunge line and she sketched him as he trotted and cantered around me in a circle.

Oh, I'll just come right out and say it -- Corny looks stunning as a quick sketch.

She also sketched the geese when they gathered around her as she sat on the porch. She captured them perfectly, big mouths and all.

Today I was back in the classroom, putting order into chaos. It feels like an almost hopeless task (hence my sour frame of mind), but I'm just setting my mind to doing what I can. I plan to be finished tomorrow (whether I'm finished or not).

About Me

My husband and I live in a small house by a small pond that is just past the first and smallest foothill of the mighty Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Our nearest town has the rather large name of Copperopolis, but the town itself is also very small. During the school year I drive my small car down into the valley to teach 4th grade at – you guessed it – a smallish school. On both a grand and a personal scale, life is too short and too miraculous to be taken for granted. This chronicle of our life here at Frogpond Acres is one way for me to remain mindful and appreciative of the many not-so-small wonders and blessings that surround us.